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Her fingers gave an involuntary twitch, both the ones grasping Xira and the ones entwined with Kaiden’s.He’s not my boyfriend.

Yet.

Alex’s lingering grin swiftly turned into a frown.Seriously, Xira—stop reading my thoughts.

Stop—

I absolutely did not project this time, she said, cutting off what she presumed he’d been about to say.

Xira’s chuckle was mental as well as audible.Maybe it was wishful thinking on my part.

Why would you say that? You don’t even know him.

He was in your future vision. You felt safe with him then, just as you do now. That’s good enough for me.

Alex rolled her eyes to the heavens, wondering why every person and creature in her life seemed determined to play matchmaker.Your opinion has been noted, along with everyone else’s.

Good. Now pass on what I said.

Squeezing Kaiden’s hand to get his attention, she twisted back to him and called, “Remember what I told you before?”

His eyes sparkled right along with the shooting stars surrounding them. “The part where you told me not to let you go?”

She’d actually just said not to let go, not to not lethergo. There was a clear, deliberate distinction in the way he’d answered, his words filled with much more meaning than hers had been. But still, she opted to lightly answer, “Close enough.”

And with her mental go-ahead, Xira snapped his wings close to his side and plunged them downwards, spearing through a gap in the clouded land and down, down, down until they reached the unending purgatory desert. Far in the distance, Alex thought she could see the ruins of an ancient city, but before she could manage a closer look, with a quick twist mid-air, Xira pulled up and spiralled them into the heavens again, higher than ever before—so high that Alex felt as if she could reach out and touch the stars streaking all around them.

Tumbling and whirling, Xira continued to frolic with them in a perfectly choreographed dance of flight. They swirled and barrel-rolled their way through the unimaginable scenery before finally approaching the edges of the vast Sky Kingdom.

Please tell me you have another wildflower island here?Alex asked, having loved the glowing flowers in Draekora. The island was still there now—indeed, it was where the free Meyarins had set up their settlement—but it was nothing more than a deadened wasteland, all beauty having left with the exodus of the draekons.

There’s something I think you’ll like even more, Xira answered.

Alex couldn’t imagine how that would be possible, but when he turned on his wing and began to crest in a slow, downward arc, she found her eyes widening as their destination came into view.

Glancing up at the stars above her head and then down again, she felt like she was peering into a mirror, except the stars beneath her were stationary, not streaking. It was like someone had painted a galaxy onto the island, a sight that became even more magical as the distance between them lessened. And that was because, as Xira touched down on the grass-covered land, Alex realised that it wasn’t flowers or plants or anything else living that provided the celestial view; instead, it was thousands upon thousands of floating, bioluminescent sparkles. It was like being surrounded by multi-coloured fireflies, only the specks of light weren’t sourced by creatures, they were simply suspended in the air, a glowing offering of starbursts.

Marvelling at the scenery hovering all around them, Alex waited for Kaiden to slide down from Xira before she followed after him, the two of them looking around in silent wonder.

“This place—Xira—” Alex was so awed that she could barely string a sentence together. “How do you ever leave?”

“The trick is to avoid coming here altogether,” he said, his dry tone making her turn from the view back to him. It was only then that she noticed his scales weren’t justreflectingthe rainbowed sparkles all around them, they werecolouredby them.

Unable to stifle her bubbling humour, Alex reached her hand towards the nearest burst of light, grinning widely when it stuck to her skin like a small fleck of paint splatter. She hadn’t felt its touch, almost like it was a powder simply air-blown onto her flesh. It glittered everywhere, enough for her to understand how Xira, having flown them straight through the masses, wasnow covered in the shiny dust, almost like he’d just finished an epic game of draekon paintball.

But that also meant…

Turning to focus properly on Kaiden, Alex erupted into laughter. She then looked down at herself, and her mirth only increased. Having been seated in front during their landing, she’d mostly protected him from the coloured bursts that were splattered across every inch of her, but he hadn’t come away completely unscathed.

Still laughing, she couldn’t resist reaching up and running her fingers through his sparkled hair and then trailing them down along his dusted cheekbone, his face lit with glittering freckles.

“Since you look like you’ve just enjoyed the best art class of your life, I’m guessing the same is true for me?” he said, his gaze travelling over her while his eyes twinkled much like the rest of his glowing features.

It was all she could do to nod, caught up as she was in her laughter.

“I had a feeling you’d like it here,” Xira said, his resigned tone setting her off again.

From his earlier comment, it was clear that this wasn’t an island he often frequented—for the obvious, colourfully messy reasons—but he’d still brought her, knowing just how much delight it would bring.